


Kryptonize

by astradanvers



Series: Supercat Week [6]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Accidental Marriage, Day Five, F/F, Family, Supercat Week, cuteness, i'm just saying somethinghere, supercat
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-05
Updated: 2016-02-27
Packaged: 2018-05-11 20:53:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5641585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astradanvers/pseuds/astradanvers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Why the hell didn’t Kara learn what exactly a Kryptonian marriage ritual entailed a long time ago?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Clearly I am still behind because my fics for specific days keep getting far too out of hand. This one didn’t make it quiet as out of hand as Faking the Faking but it still went way farther than I expected. That being said, Faking the Faking will soon have a new chapter as well. So, um, yeah, enjoy. :)

Kara lands on the balcony of CatCo, slightly surprised to find Cat still there, “Miss Grant,” she says as she lands, there’s no use in hovering anymore.

“I believe Cat will do just fine, Kara,” Cat says quietly.

Supergirl watches her, cautiously, “Are you calling me by my actual name now because you know I’m Supergirl or have you always known it and it’s some kind of power play thing?”

Cat grins, “Which will make you feel better?”

“That’s what I thought,” Kara says and lifts herself up onto the balcony, sitting on the edge of it. “Do you know how important it is for me to keep my identity a secret?”

“I have my suspicions, yes,” Cat says, “but why don’t you enlighten me.”

“The more people that know who I am the more people there are for the bad guys to target and the more people I have to fear keeping my secret.” Kara studies the older woman, “You named Supergirl, Cat, but Supergirl won’t lose a thing if Kara Danvers name gets spread across the papers. Kara Danvers will face her family, her friends, her boss,” she says pointedly, “being put in harm's way because her name gets spread across the papers.” She sighs, “I don’t think you’ll do that,” she says honestly, “because if you don’t respect Kara you do respect Supergirl and won’t reveal her secret. But the government is willing to make sure that you don’t spread Kara Danvers’ name around but I don't want them to because I,” she falters, “because you’re needed, Cat.”

“That’s not what you were going to say,” Cat says, standing and walking towards the other woman, stopping just paces away from her. “And I do respect Kara Danvers, Kara, because Kara and Supergirl are the same person but even if they weren’t Kara has always had my respect. I may not show it as well as I could but I would hope you’d know that.”

Kara tilts her head and Cat clearly sees her assistant just then, “How would I see that, Cat? Backhanded compliments?”

“I defended you to my mother,” Cat says firmly, “the only other person I do that for is Carter.” Cat blushes then and Kara slides down off of the balcony railing, diminishing the distance between them even more, “What were you going to say but stopped yourself from earlier?”

Tentatively, testing her boundaries Kara reaches out and traces a thumb over Cat’s cheek, “I don’t want the government to have a part in keeping you from spreading this story, Cat, because I need you. I need you and I don’t know what they could or would do to keep my identity under wraps.” She shakes her head, “I don’t want to find out with you.”

Cat reaches out, takes Kara’s hand and brings it up so that their hands rest palm to palm before she interlaces their fingers, “I promise you, Kara, that your identity, your secrets, and anything you wish to share with me are safe, it is as if they were mine.” She smiles slightly, “I would never put you at risk, Kara, you mean too much to me.”

Kara smiles almost tiredly at Cat, “And I promise you, Cat, that I will do everything in my power to protect you and to protect Carter, to keep the two of you safe, no matter what may come. I will always be there for you, Cat, as your assistant, your friend, whatever you need. I will keep safe anything that you willingly trust me with.”

As Kara finishes speaking there’s a flash of light and two metal bands appear on their ring fingers, “Kara, what are those?”

“I’m not sure, Cat, I know what they look like but I hope I’m wrong.”

“I hope you are too or we are having an even more serious conversation about promises of protection.”

At this Kara fights the urge to giggle like a teenager while pressing a button on the com still in her ear, “Alex,” she says into the device.

“What’s up, sis?”

Kara grimaces, “How much do you know about Kryptonian marriage rituals?”

“Absolutely nothing, why?”

“I may have done something and I think it may have been that.”

“Kara, you didn’t. Henshaw is going to kill you. You need to come back in and speak with Alura.”

“Yes, I realize that. There’s no way I’m leaving Cat here though, how bad would Hank freak if I brought her with me?”

“Cat Grant? Kara, we told you to make sure she wouldn’t rat you out not marry the woman. And he will totally freak but I think you should bring her anyway. There’s no telling what effect a Kryptonian marriage bond could have on a human.”

“She’ll be okay, right?” Kara whispers after turning away from Cat.

“I don’t know what it could do, Kara, I’ll have to check her out when you get here while you talk to Alura.”

Kara takes a deep breath and blows it out, “Okay we’ll be there in a bit. I have a feeling convincing Cat to fly is going to take a while.”

Turning back around Kara isn’t surprised to find Cat with her arms crossed, “Fly? Like let you fly me to wherever the hell we’re going?” She shakes her head, “Nope, no way.”

Moving forward Kara cups Cat’s cheek, surprised when the other woman leans into her touch, “I promise, Cat, nothing will happen to you. I will have you the whole time.” Finally Cat nods, “Good, now do we need to find someone to go stay with Carter?”

Cat shakes her head, surprised that Kara had even thought about her son when there was even the remote possibility that she was married to her boss, “He’s on a field trip to DC this weekend.”

Nodding Kara steps closer, “I’m going to pick you up now.” Cat nods and Kara lifts her up into her arms, “Wrap you arms around my neck, know that I’m not going to let you go, you are safe with me.” Cat wraps her arms around Kara’s neck and then sinks her head down to rest on Kara’s shoulder, her eyes closed. “You don’t like heights, do you?” Cat shakes her head and Kara unconsciously presses a kiss to her temple, she just can’t seem to help those little things now, “I’ll make this as quick and painless as possible, I promise, then we’ll get my sister to bring us back from base.”

With that Kara takes to the skies and makes the quickest flight to DEO headquarters she’s ever made without breaking the sound barrier and ensuring that Cat is safe in her arms. As she lands she eases Cat down on shaky legs, “That wasn’t as bad as I was expecting,” she says once her heart rate has calmed, her forehead pressed against Kara’s shoulder. After a few minutes she steps back from Kara, “Let's go, I want to find out what’s going on.”

Kara smiles, always the same Cat. She takes the older woman’s hand and leads her into headquarters and straight toward her private lair with her mother’s memory, knowing Alex will be there waiting for her. Of course the older Davers sister is, standing right outside of the locked door leading to the hologram of Kara’s mother. Kara turns to Cat, “I have to go talk to a hologram about what’s going on and my sister wants to see if it’s affected you in anyway. We can either split up or we can all talk to the hologram together and then I’ll go with you so Alex can check you over.”

Cat squeezes the hand Kara’s hadn’t even realized was still in the older woman’s, “Together,” Cat says, clearly slightly put off, because Cat Grant was never frightened, by the building they were in.

“We’re gonna do this together,” Kara tells Alex. “Cat wants to find out what’s going on right from the source and I don’t want Cat to find out how it affects her when she’s alone.” Alex nods, “Come in with us,” Kara says, “we can figure it out together.”

Alex nods and falls in behind Cat as the three make their way into the room where Alura’s memory waits. “My daughter,” Alura says as soon as Kara steps into the room, “how are you?”

“I have a few questions,” Kara says instead of responding, she’s still a little more than pissed over what she learned the last time they spoke. “What was a traditional Kryptonian marriage ceremony like?”

Alura begins speaking instantly in her computer generated voice, “Kryptonian marriage ceremonies were the equivalent of a shared promise of protection between lovers who truly care for one another. When such a promise is made rings of Kryptonian silver will appear on the lover’s hands, bonding them for life. The Kryptonian marriage ceremony is meant to be a lifelong bond that cannot be broken.”

“What if the marriage ceremony was accidentally done without the participants knowing what was going on between them? Without them knowing that it was in fact a marriage ceremony?”

“It does not matter if the ceremony is done accidentally or with purpose the bonding is the same. It cannot be broken.” Kara lets her head drop into her hands, “Who have you bonded with, Kara?”

“My very human, very female, very not in love with me boss.”

“Two out of three assessments are better than none,” Cat mutters behind her. She steps up beside Kara, “What effects could this ceremony have on me? What effects could this have on my son?”

“Was your son mentioned in any part of the ceremony?”

“Of course,” Kara declares quickly, “I vowed to protect both he and Cat to the best of my ability, as I fully intend to do.”

“When a human marries a Kryptonian or should a child of the human be mentioned in the Kryptonian’s protective promise then the human’s cells will begin to mutate, slowly becoming those of a full Kryptonian.”

“What you’re telling me,” Cat says slowly from her spot beside Kara, “is that since Kara and I have apparently taken protection vows as part of the Kryptonian marriage ceremony, both Carter and I will now become Kryptonian just as Kara is? Does this mean that we’ll begin to develop the same types of powers that Kara has? How is it even possible?”

“Yes, you and your son will become Kryptonian just as Kara. You will eventually begin to develop the same powers as Kara has and live longer than the average human. It is possible for a human to become Kryptonian through a process known as Kryptonize which occurs because human and Kryptonian DNA is so closely linked that it can be easily converted from one species to the other.”

“They will be safe, right?” Kara questions instantly fearing for her wife and their son’s, and how the hell did she come to feel that way about them so fast, safety.

Alura nods, “Your wife and child, and yes the natural ability to instantly see them as such is normal, will be safe and well, Kara.”

Kara nods then turns slightly, arm circling Cat’s waist, “Is there anything else you want to ask?”

Cat shakes her head but doesn’t say anything. She leans against Kara’s side though and rests her head against Kara’s shoulder. Kara knows the signs of a headache in the older woman instantly and presses a kiss to the top of her head, “Are we done here?” Alex questions.

“Yeah, I think so,” Kara says instantly while guiding Cat towards the door to the room, still holding the smaller woman against her side. “How long is this gonna take, Alex?”

Alex smiles at Kara’s protective nature over Cat, “Not too long for now. We may want to monitor how Cat’s and Carter’s powers develop over time though.”

“My son will not be studied like some kind of lab rat,” Cat suddenly snaps and Kara feels the hatred radiating from her. “Me I don’t care about.”

“Neither of them will be studied like lab rats,” Kara says forcefully. “I will monitor their powers’ development and keep you updated on their progression. You remember how hard of a time I had adjusting to the control I had to have over my senses, it will take me time to ensure that both Cat and Carter possess that control, time that I will not have if the DEO is determined to study them.”

Staring at her sister Alex is shocked by just how protective her sister has already become of Cat and Carter but then she thinks about how protective Kara has always been of her boss and it’s not so out of character. “Sure, Kara,” Alex says, unsure of how else to proceed.

“Kara,” Cat says suddenly and to Kara her voice is very, very tiny. “Why is everything so loud?” she whispers out.

“Damnit,” Kara mutters, “I had hoped it would take a few days. Alex, send a chopper to DC now, have them find Carter’s school trip and bring him home. Make sure that they have sound blocking headphones for him and sunglasses.”

Alex nods and rushes off down the hallway. Kara turns back to Cat, speaking in very quiet tones, “How far can you hear?”

“There’s a woman three halls over demanding to know why you’ve rushed in.”

Kara sighs, Astra, “Okay,” she says quietly, “I’m going to lift you up and fly us home, we need to be somewhere I can control the volume of the things closest to you. I’m going to grab sound blocking headphones from Alex for you because otherwise the sounds of the city will overwhelm you, okay?”

Cat nods and then sinks down to the middle of the floor, hands covering her ears. Kara rushes down the hallway, hating herself for leaving her wife on the floor of the hallway but knowing that protecting her hearing is the most important thing at the moment. Alex spots her as she rushes in and tosses a set of headphones to her, “Thought you’d want those.”

Kara grabs them from the air and turns around instantly, her ears picking up the beginnings of Cat’s near silent crying, meaning that the sounds are getting loud. When she returns to Cat’s side she places the headphones over her ears, “I know it doesn’t block the sound entirely,” she says at a normal volume, knowing Cat won’t be able to hear if she whispers now, “but it will help until we get home.”

Stooping Kara scoops Cat into her arms, “Will Carter be okay?”

“Alex will make sure of it,” Kara promises her while placing a kiss on her forehead. She moves back down the hall to where Alex is pacing, “Has -”

“Helicopter has reached Carter, has him in transport. I’m meeting them when they land and bringing Carter straight to you. Where will you be?”

Looking down at Cat, Kara nods, “Cat’s place, it will be better if they’re in familiar surroundings but I need to be somewhere I can control the closest sounds to them.”

Alex nods, “I’ll see you later then.”

Kara nods, “Make sure you bring him home safe.”

“I will, Kara,” Alex promises. “Get Cat home before the headphones stop working.”

Nodding once more Kara moves towards the exit and takes flight into the sky, flying just a bit faster, believing that already, Cat’s body will be able to handle the faster speed. When she touches down on the balcony of Cat’s penthouse she knows the doors will be unlocked and she walks straight though. She kneels down in front of Cat after settling her into an armchair, “You’re safe, baby,” she whispers, “I’m going to help you.” She reaches up, “I want to take these off, do you trust me?” Cat nods slowly and Kara slips the headgear away, Cat flinches when the sounds assault her instantly. “Focus on me,” Kara says, voice gentle, soothing, “focus on my voice, on the lilts in it, the way the words I speak flow together. Picture my words as music, flowing in a constant stream. Just my voice, that’s all I want you to listen for, it’ll take some time but you can find it.”

“I’ve got it,” Cat whispers out, her mind wrapping around that one, quiet, soothing voice. A bit gravelly but still feminine.

“Now take all of the other noises, all of the other things, the ticking of the clock, the ambulance down the street and file them away. Create these little pockets for them, things in the room, things in our building, on our street. Let the pattern of doing it sooth you.”

Kara can tell when Cat’s eyes fall closed and her eyes begin moving behind her eyelids that the older woman is doing just as she's been directed. “Once all of the sounds have been sorted, this room, each other room of the apartment, open up that compartment where the sounds for this room are, just ease it open, not too much.” She pauses, watching a small smile form on Cat’s lips, “Now what do you hear?”

“Your heart beating,” Cat says into the quiet, “my heart beating to the same rhythm, is that part of the marriage bond.” Kara chuckles, leave it to Cat to want to investigate things when all but one of her senses are probably still bouncing off the walls. “Oh now that sounds like music,” Cat whispers.

Kara shakes her head, “I won't you to close that compartment you’re in just a tad, let the sound of our heartbeats become quieter, barely noticeable but still present if you want them to be.” She waits a moment then grins when Cat hums to herself, “Quiet?”

“Until you ruined it, yes,” she returns in true Cat like fashion. “Can we get rid of the smells now? Pollution is an absolutely horrid smell.”

Kara chuckles, “I’m well aware.” She doesn’t dare reach out to touch Cat as she longs to do, “Focus on the smells assaulting you, just as you did with the sounds. Separate them, compartmentalize them as you did the sounds,” Kara watches Cat smile, “you’re steps ahead of me, aren’t you?”

Cat chuckles, “The only thing I can smell right now is you. I could add the other smells in the room but I won’t, they aren’t important.” She tilts her head, eyes still closed, “Why has controlling my sense of smell helped with my sense of taste?”

“Because those two senses are connected, it's like when you smell something really foul and get a bad taste in your mouth. Now that your sense of smell is under control you should be able to maintain the control of your sense of taste, even when you eat.”

Cat nods, she's never really thought about how her senses affect one another before now, “Which sense are we working on next?” 

“I had the hardest problem controlling my eyesight so we can do that now or last, whichever you prefer.”

“Now,” Cat says firmly, “the sensations on my skin I can handle, not being able to see I can't handle at all.”

Kara nods even though Cat can't see her, “Open your eyes for me.”

Slowly Cat’s green eyes flutter open, “I can't even see you,” she says with a groan, “but I can see the musician in the park four blocks over.”

Kara chuckles slightly, “We’ll fix that,” she promises. “Now focus on whatever you can see that's the farthest away, whether it's the musician in the park four blocks over or the bodega down by the bay,” Kara’s tone is still quiet, soothing as she speaks to Cat. “Now look at the scene as if you're moving backwards, each little bit you move back put a wall up between you and whatever it is you're looking at. Don't use multiple walls though simply move that original wall, that's the most difficult thing to remember, move the wall instead of building a new one.”

Cat’s brow furrows up in concentration, “How do you do this every day?”

“It gets easier,” Kara promises, wishing once more that she'd helped Cat with her sense of touch first. “Once you've got that wall between this room and everything outside of it you'll find it's much easier to keep it up than to lower it.”

“I'm at the end of the street,” Cat says quietly, sweat beading at her brow now. She sighs, “I can't do it, Kara, I can't close it off anymore.”

“Do you want to take a break? Try to focus on your sensitivity to touch instead and then go back to sight.”

Cat nods, “Let's try that.”

Kara smiles, “Okay,” she reaches out but doesn't yet touch Cat. “I'm going to cover your hand with mine,” she says, voice still calming, “focus only on that touch.” Cat nods and slowly Kara lowers her hand to cover Cat’s smaller one, “Focus on the feel of my skin on yours,” she whispers, “the ghosts of my touch as I trace your hands.” She traces light patterns across the backs of Cat’s hands, thinks about when Alex used to do the same to her as a child to help her remain grounded, “Focus on only that.”

“It's all I can feel now,” Cat says quietly.

Nodding Kara smiles, “Now extend that sense, feel the weight of your clothes against your body. Feel the way the armchair surrounds you. Don't let the feelings get too much, you have to find a balance that feels good but is not overly sensitive, a balance that won't send you toppling into sense overload if someone besides Carter or I were to grab your hand suddenly.”

Cat nods, “I think I've got it,” she says quietly, “it feels like it did when I didn't have the heightened sense of touch.”

Kara smiles, “That's one advantage you have that I didn't when I was learning this, you know how these things should feel to a human, you can accommodate them to feel that way.” She runs her fingers lightly up and now Cat’s arm, “Have you been able to maintain how far you can see this whole time?”

Slowly Cat’s eyes flutter back open and she smiles, “I have,” she whispers out, “can I try it again?”

Keeping up her slow easy touch to Cat’s arm Kara nods, “Try it, baby,” she murmurs, knowing Cat will probably detest the term of endearment but using it anyway.

Cat scrunches up her nose but doesn't comment instead she focuses on the things she's seeing down the street. This time Kara doesn't speak, she just watches her wife, the ebb and flow of the creases across her brow as she focuses more on one thing or another, as she moves her internal wall closer and closer to home. “It is good to see your face again,” she says suddenly and Kara smiles widely, “that was much easier the second time I tried.”

Kara nods, “It will get even easier in time. Eventually you'll get so accustomed to controlling what you're hearing, seeing, feeling that it will be as natural to you as breathing.” Her ears pick up on something outside the door and she rises from her kneeling position, “Speaking of,” she says, “our son’s here.”

When Kara pulls the door open Alex is standing on the other side, arm around Carter’s shoulders, “I've helped as much as I can,” she tells Kara, “hoped I could give you a bit more time to get Cat’s senses under control.”

Kara feels a hand at the small of her back, sliding around her waist, “Perfect timing actually,” Cat says but her eyes are on Carter, “how ya feeling, sweetheart?”

“Alex helped with my sense of touch and hearing, I felt like my skin was on fire. She helped with the vision thing too but things keep slipping through.”

Kara smiles at her sister, “Still remember all the old tricks then?”

Alex smiles, “I refresh my memory every morning, when your sister loses control of her senses every time she has a panic attack you remember these things.”

Carter’s voice breaks through the small moment then, “What's going on? Alex told me that it had to do with Kara but said it'd be better if the two of you explained.” He tilts his head, “Why do I have powers like Supergirl?” Kara smiles slightly, she wonders if he's really so thrown he doesn't notice she's in her super suit.

Reaching out Alex rests a hand on Kara’s shoulder, “I'm heading back to work, we'll take care of everything we can. If it gets too serious we’ll call, otherwise take care of your family. I'll call you tonight.”

Kara presses a kiss to her cheek, “Thanks, Alex.”

After Alex has left again, Kara turns to find her wife and son sitting on the floor Indian style across from one another. She smiles, listening to Cat’s soft voice walk Carter through the same steps Kara walked her through not long ago. She rests her head on the doorframe in the arch between entry and den, simply enjoying watching them. As if sensing Kara’s eyes on them Cat looks up, “Come help me walk him through this, I don't want to mess it up.”

Smiling Kara moves forward, lowering herself to the ground beside them both, “You can't mess it up, Cat,” she whispers quietly. “What are we working on?” she asks quietly, unsure of just how under control Alex had helped Carter to get his hearing.

Carter smiles at her, “You can talk normal,” he says, “hearing is normal again, well what normal can be considered,” he tilts his head, “these pocket things Alex talked me through really help too. Maybe now I can shut off the music from down the street when I'm trying to study on the balcony.”

Kara smiles at him, shaking her head, “Okay, so hearing you've got. What about smell?”

Carter shakes his head, “We didn't make it that far in the car, left it for last.”

“Okay.” She looks at Cat, “You wanna try and talk him through it? Maybe it'll help you keep better control too, that's why Alex knows so much about how to help. I used to sit up at night walking her through how I maintained balance, then when I'd have a panic attack and lose control she could walk me back through it.”

Slowly Cat nods, “I can try.” She smiles at Carter, “Smell is a lot like hearing,” she tells him carefully, “you have to focus on the individual smells, put them in little compartments where they belong then draw on the ones you want to focus on. Can you do that, sweetie?”

Kara smiles at Cat’s use of the term in regards to their son and watches Carter, eventually a grin spreads across his lips, “Mom, are you wearing that perfume Kara gave you for Christmas last year even though you said you hated it?”

“She is,” Kara confirms, “she wears it quite often for it to be, what was it again, oh vile smelling scented water.”

Cat chuckles, “Well what do you expect? I couldn't actually like a present from my assistant, could I?”

Kara and Carter chuckle then too, “Does that mean you've got your sense of smell controlled, Carter?”

The boy nods, “I can smell just like I used to now.”

“Good job, bud,” Kara says reaching out to ruffle his hair. “So you've got touch, hearing and smell, which means taste also should have fallen into place. You said things kept leaking through your vision shield, right?”

Carter nods, “It's like there are cracks and sights slip through those cracks.”

Kara nods, “How did Alex tell you to go about blocking out what you don't want to see?” Kara’s changed her way of viewing how she handles this process of adapting over the years for the very reasons that Carter’s having trouble with now.

“To kind of build a wall inside my mind, cutting off where I wanted to see.”

“That's what I thought she might have. It works for the most part and it was effective enough when I was a kid that I could function. When I got older though I learned a better way to build that wall, enforce it in a way. I never told Alex about it so she wouldn't have known to talk you through it that way.” She smiles at him, “You wanna try it?”

He nods, “Definitely, I couldn't focus more than ten minutes the way this is going.”

Cat chuckles beside them, her son is as over dramatic as she sometimes has a tendency to be. Kara raises and eyebrow but Cat shakes her head and nods to Carter, “Okay,” Kara starts, “the first thing you have to do is tear down that wall with all the cracks in it,” she says, “it'll only get in your way if you don't.” 

Carter nods and Kara can see him concentrating for a moment, “What now?”

“Look at whatever you can see farthest away from here, whatever it is just focus on that.”

Carter nods then tilts his head slightly, “Mom, can the website do a story on desert wildlife?”

Cat tilts her head in the same way as her son, “What in the world are you looking at, Carter?”

“Some kind of weird little lizard, he looks pretty cool.”

Kara chuckles, “We’ll see, now focus on what your mother is telling you,” Cat says with her own grin.

“Right, sorry, just a thought he was cool.”

Shaking her head Kara continues, “Now put up a new wall, right in front of that lizard, block him out completely with it, along with everything around him,” Carter nods, brow furrowing just as Cat’s had earlier. When she thinks he's had enough time Kara starts speaking, “After that think about taking steps back from him, one, two, ten at a time, you have to find your own rhythm for it. Each time you step back that amount of space, move your wall with you. Don't try to build a new wall, building new walls is how cracks are made. Moving that first wall, the one you built to keep out that very first image, it keeps the cracks from forming. You spent time on that wall, you know it'll hold under pressure.”

For long moments Carter continues in silence, his nose scrunches up a few times, others little smiles pulling at his lips, “Oh cool, Mom! The new Star Wars is out, can we go see it soon?”

“Maybe not a good idea until we’re sure we've got control of the super hearing, sweetie,” Cat says, rubbing at her own ear, having not expected Carter’s excited shout and having tweaked her hearing just a bit to hear Carter’s steady heartbeat while he went through the task of building his wall.

“Right,” he said, “those movie theaters are loud, probably not a good place to be.”

Kara laughs, “Give it a little time, before you know it you'll be ready to head back into one. You just have to know how to tune your hearing in certain situations.” She looks him over, cocks her head, “How long have you been back in the room with us?”

He grins, “Few minutes, it's kind of fun to take everything in at ultra high def.” He scrunches his nose, “There, just perfect.”

“How was it so easy for him to adjust his vision?”

Kara smiles at Cat, reaching out to gently brush the other woman’s hand with her own, “He's a kid. He's got twelve years of seeing like a normal human being, the idea of seeing more than that excites him but it's also easier to control. Someone older, my age or your age has a harder time because they've seen the world through normal human sight for so long that something more doesn't so much excite them anymore as scare them.”

Nodding Cat studies Kara, it would seem that the younger woman, that her wife knows far more about human psychology than Cat ever gave her credit for. “So are you guys gonna tell me what's going on?”

Sighing Cat turns to her son, “That is quite the story and will require hot cocoa, pajamas and warm blankets by the fire as it's already quite late.”

“Does it have to do with why you called Kara my mother?”

Cat falters, having nor even realized she did such a thing, “It does,” she finally says, “go put some pjs on and Kara and I will explain.”

Nodding Carter bounces up from the floor and heads down the hall, “I didn't even realize I'd done that,” Cat whispers out quietly, leaning over to rest her head on Kara’s arm. “This is all so new, I mean we weren't even dating for god’s sake but it feels like -”

“It feels like we've been doing this forever,” Kara says gently, lifting one of Cat’s hands with her own, bringing it to her lips and pressing a kiss to the back, “That's how it feels for me too.” She turns her head slightly, pressing a kiss to Cat’s temple, “The hologram of my mother said that it would, that it was natural in situations such as ours.” She laces her fingers with Cat’s, “I think it has to do with the fact that for a marriage bond to occur the way that ours did the people involved must truly care for each other. When I made an assessment of the situation we faced for the hologram you announced that two of three were right,” she grins slightly, “you were very much human and you are most definitely all female so only the last assessment I made could have been false. In that case the two of us would have felt equally as strongly for one another which would be why the marriage bond was so easily solidified between us and why it is so natural to us.”

“Your last assessment was very wrong,” Cat says, “quite the opposite is true in fact.”

Kara smiles, “For me too,” she whispers before tilting Cat’s head back with a finger under her chin and kissing her softly. “We should get changed if we want to explain things to Carter.”

Nodding Cat stands up from the floor and reaches back down to Kara, pulling her up but overestimating her strength so that Kara’s taller frame over balances them both and they end up back on the floor, Kara’s long form stretched out along Cat’s smaller one. “Mmmm,” Cat sighs, “I thought we were getting up?”

“We are,” Kara says, rising to her own feet and lifting Cat up with her, standing her wife on her feet beside her. “You're gonna have to get used to that new strength you've got there.” She chuckles at Cat’s pout, “Our son is down the hall waiting for an explanation of why he has my powers and you have a whole new way of viewing the world, Cat, we’ll get there,” she whispers, “I promise.”

Cat smirks, “I am not a patient woman.”

“I know you aren't,” Kara whispers next to Cat’s ear, “but there are three people in this apartment right now with super hearing and two of us are not completely adept at keeping out what we don't want in yet.” Kara chuckles a bit at Cat’s slightly horrified look, “Exactly, let's not scar him for life.”

“Only you could make me forget such important facts.” She smiles, “You always do.”

“You never forget anything, Cat.”

Cat tilts her head, taking in the picture of her wife carefully, still dressed in her Supergirl suit but so much the Kara she sees every day at work. “Do you really believe that I call you back into my office five minutes after you leave because I wanted to make you walk all the way to your desk and then back?”

“Well maybe not now you've said it that way,” Kara says blushing slightly.

Shaking her head Cat winds her arms around Kara’s waist, “Kara, I had to come up with a completely new system of dictating orders to you because I kept forgetting the most important things. In the end I started listing the things I needed done from least important to most important in my head so that the most important ones got finished first.”

Kara laughs lightly, “It's kind of nice knowing I wasn't the only one who got nervous every time I entered the office.”

Cat tightens her hold on Kara, “That's not too tight, right?”

Shaking her head Kara tightens her hold around Cat as well, “We’re bulletproof, Cat,” Kara whispers.

“Oh right,” Cat mutters.

“Moms!” they hear Carter call from down the hall after a loud crash, “I broke my bed!”

It takes only a moment and then Kara starts laughing, “It's not funny, Kara,” Cat admonishes but Kara can see she's trying not to laugh as well. “I'm probably going to be buying a lot of furniture for a little while, aren't I?”

Kara shrugs, “My strength was one of the easiest things to gain control of, flying was the absolute easiest, the hardest was by far the laser vision. I would suggest we invest in fire extinguishers now rather than later.”

This time Cat begins chuckling and hides her face against Kara’s neck, “We are raising an almost thirteen year old boy who will soon have raging hormones and he’s got super strength, super speed, super senses and heat vision.” She pauses, “And oh yeah, soon he’ll be able to fly.”

Laughter bubbles up inside of them both and when Carter enters the living room again both Kara and Cat have sunk to the ground, holding onto one another as they laugh, “Moms?”

Kara rolls onto her side, looking up at him then reaches up and tugs him down into the pile on the floor, “Come spend some time with your moms, bud.”

Carter collapses down on the floor with them, “What in the world happened to the two of you today? And, Kara, why are you wearing Supergirl’s super suit?”

Leaning over to his ear Cat whispers, “She is Supergirl, Carter.” His eyes grow wide and he looks over at Kara then, “And the reasons we have all of her powers now is because she and I accidentally got married today.”

“Wait, what?”

“Umm, yeah, Carter,” Kara says head resting on her hand as she looks down on her wife and son, both stretched out on the floor, a circumstance she never once imagined seeing Cat Grant in.

“How do you accidentally get married?” Carter questions even as he shifts closer to Kara, using her bicep as a pillow.

“I may have figured out Supergirl’s secret identity and she may not have known that a vow of protection between two people who care for another among her people equals to a marriage bond.” Cat throws a glare Kara’s way, “How is it that you have never thought to find out anything about the customs of our people?”

A few seconds later she realizes what she’s said but shrugs it off, it’s mostly accurate. “These things were never really important to me before I began using my powers to save National City. Then I got into a fight with a hologram after my aunt I thought was dead showed up and there was really no one to question.”

“You got into a fight with a hologram,” Carter says, laughing as he looks up at Kara.

“Oh hush you,” Kara says, tickling at his sides, “there were things I found out about my family that I couldn’t understand and the hologram was making things worse.”

Carter nods, “Gotcha.” He looks over at his mom and smiles when he finds her looking back at them with a smile teasing her lips, “So how did the two of you getting married end with mom and me having powers like Supergirl?”

“That is apparently part of the deal when you are a human and marry a Kryptonian,” Cat says with a smile for her son. “As for why you are going through gaining powers as well is because when Kara made the vow of protection that instigated our marriage she promised to protect you as well.”

“Does this mean if I ever meet someone and do the same thing they’ll become Kryptonian as well?”

Kara tilts her head, “That’s actually a good question, bud, I’ll have to talk to the hologram or Aunt Astra about it later. Perhaps we can go down to DEO tomorrow or the day after and have some target practice and flying practice.”

“Flying practice?” Carter questions.

“Look down,” Kara tells him softly and he flips in the air to look below the three of them, finding that they’re all three feet off the floor.

“Awesome!” Carter shouts and nearly topples out of the air as Kara and Cat both reach out as if to catch him, “Moooommmsss! I’m flying, you don’t need to catch me.”

“Yeah, we’re always gonna catch you, dude.”

Cat laughs at her wife and son as the two of them tussle through the air, rolling and cutting flips, “The two of you better not break anything,” she says slightly glaring at them only to then pounce through the air at her wife.

A knock sounds at the door then and Kara rolls over in the air, using her x-ray vision to look through the wooden door, “Ha, knew she wouldn’t be able to stay away.” She turns to Cat and Carter, “Float higher,” she whispers to them and points to the ceiling. Then she floats closer to the door, pulling it open without landing or circling around so she can be seen by the person on the other side.

“Kara,” Alex’s voice calls carefully into the apartment, “hey, Kara, I hope you don’t mind me coming back.” Just then the door swings shut behind her and she shrieks, “Kara,” she growls smacking at her sister floating above her head, “that was a jackass move.”

“Nope this is,” Kara says as Carter and Cat both tickle Alex from behind.

When Cat and Carter finally back away from Alex she’s glaring at all three people in the air, “You are all very evil people,” she says, laughing. Looking up at them she tilts her head, “So the powers are developing rapidly then?”

Chuckling Kara and Cat land back on the ground easily, “Well you’re liking flying much better,” Kara mutters.

“I’m the one in control.”

Kara shrugs, “True.”

She turns to Alex then, “I was going to call you in a bit actually. Is it possible we could use the desert field tomorrow to target practice and practice flying somewhere that doesn’t have a ceiling?”

Alex laughs, “As long as I get to watch.”

Her sister’s nose scrunches up, she knows so many bad jokes she could make after that comment but she’ll refrain with Carter still floating around the light fixture. “Sure, I’m just trying to keep things from getting sticky if Cat or Carter gets mad about something. Especially that one,” she says pointing to her wife, who glares then shrugs and gives a slight nod.

“The field is yours,” Alex says while trying to control a new laugh that wants to bubble past her lips. “Are you planning on creating these two super suits too?”

“Yes!” Carter cheers.

“No,” Cat and Kara say together with finality. “For either of them,” Kara says.

“Oh no I’ll be having one,” Cat says. “There is no way you are going out saving the day without me.”

“And there’s no way I’m letting you follow me into those situations. One of us has to be around to take care of Carter.” 

Cat glares at her, “We’ll talk about this later.”

Alex laughs then glances up at Carter hovering near the ceiling, “They’re gonna fight tonight, I would suggest ear plugs.”

Cater laughs and then drops down to the ground, “Moms, I’m hungry.”

“And there’s the Kryptonian appetite that Mom always complained about when Kara was his age.” Kara socks Alex’s in the arm, careful of her strength, “Well it’s true, Kara, you used to eat three times what we did.”

Cat laughs, “She still does when we work late at the office and order pot stickers.”

Laughter bubbles up and out of Alex’s, “She’ll eat three orders of pot stickers by herself.”

Cat laughs, Kara throws a take out menu at Alex, “Just order us food, Cat and I are going to change clothes.” 

Kara keeps Cat’s hand held tightly in hers, “I don’t know what Cat likes to eat, Kara!”

“Carter does,” Cat calls back over her shoulder, intent on following behind Kara with everything that she has. Neither woman turns back though the laughter from the living room follows them until they disappear into Cat’s bedroom. The moment they’re inside Cat pulls Kara forward, capturing the younger woman’s lips in a fierce kiss. For long moments the kiss lasts, Kara pulling Cat closer and closer until she lifts her up, Cat’s legs wrapping around her waist.

Finally Kara pulls away, resting her forehead against Cat’s, supporting her wife with ease, “We can’t,” she whispers quietly. “I want to but we can’t.”

“I know,” Cat breaths out, eyes locked with Kara’s. She presses a new kiss against Kara’s lips, this one quick and chaste, “I’ve felt this way for a while now. I have however not felt like I need to rip your clothes off every minute, what’s with that?”

Kara shakes her head, “I’ve been attracted to you since I met you and haven’t felt like this before. Okay, maybe once or twice but I could control it then.” She places a kiss on Cat’s nose, “I’m wondering if this doesn’t have something to do with our marriage being a Kryptonian marriage bond.” Kara studies her wife and thinks carefully over everything she remembers from when she lived on Krypton, “Oh,” she mutters, “oh well that would explain it.” She shakes her head then, “Except it really doesn’t.”

Kara’s hands are resting on Cat’s hips, her thumbs stroking gently under the edge of Cat’s shirt, “You have an idea of why we can’t keep our hands to ourselves don’t you.”

“Umm,” Kara closes her eyes, settles down onto the edge of the bed, Cat adjusting so that she’s sitting in Kara’s lap, “see I was just thinking back over my years on Krypton. In thinking about it I remembered something about many of the marriages there that I did not expect to.” She keeps her arms wrapped loosely around Cat’s waist as she talks, her thumbs still tracing the contours of the muscles in Cat’s lower back. “Many of the marriages on Krypton were arranged or simply because our people settled, just as the people of this world do. Those marriages that were formed in a marriage bond such that we have always seemed to have a result that the others did not.”

Cat tilts her head when Kara falls silent and does not seem to be about to continue speaking, “What was that result, Kara?”

A quiet sigh slips past Kara’s lips while she drops her head onto Cat’s shoulder, “A child. A marriage bond like our almost always resulted in a child not long after marriage.”

“That,” Cat begins quietly, Kara can still hear the slight panic in her voice, “that is something that we will figure out the repercussions of tomorrow. Tonight we are going to go down the hall, have dinner with your sister and our son and then we are going to tuck him into bed and finally crawl into bed ourselves. Tomorrow,” she continues, “after flying practice and target practice we will return to DEO headquarters and speak to the hologram of your mother.”

Kara nods through her own panic, “What if -”

Cat shakes her head, “Then we’ll figure it out together, the way we’ll do everything from here on.” A smile spreads across Kara’s features and Cat leans forward instantly to kiss away the grin, “Now I’m going to change into my pajamas in the bathroom,” she leans forward for another kiss, “you are welcome to anything you can find in my closet or dresser.” She slides off of Kara’s lap then, making her way towards the ensuite bathroom, “Kara,” she says when she stops in the doorway and looks back at the younger woman, “I love you.”

Smiling Kara can’t help the fact that her feet bring her to stand before Cat before she even truly realizes she’s moving, she pulls Cat’s face up to meet hers, cradling the smaller woman’s face in her hands, “I love you too, Cat.” For long moments they stand there, wrapped up in one another before they pull away, no other words spoken as Cat disappears into the bathroom to change and Kara slips into Cat’s closet, intending to pilfer the first thing she can pass off as pajamas.

When they return to the living room they find Alex and Carter sitting in front of the couch, discussing some random science topic or other. Kara slips down to the floor beside her sister and pulls Cat down into her lap, leaning back to watch the interactions before her and think about the day she’s had. When she got up this morning she was Kara Danvers, part time superhero and one of the few survivors of her home planet. Tonight she’ll go to bed in a new home, holding tightly to her wife with their son sleeping right down the hallway but for now she returns to time with her new family, wondering what their next step will be


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cat and Carter test their powers and Kara gets a surprise and learns something she wasn't expecting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This took a lot longer than planned, ended up being a lot longer than planned and had some major twists that I hadn’t planned, that I didn’t even know my mind could come up with. 
> 
> *******Warnings: Threats of violence against a pregnant woman and her unborn child not sure if that’s a thing but I felt it should be mentioned because of the way its said

Kara stands in the doorway to her new bedroom, well she supposes that’s the way to describe it, and watches her wife. Cat is beautiful any day of the week and any time of the day but sitting in her bed, blankets bunched in her lap as she reads something on the tablet in her hands she’s absolutely gorgeous. Moving towards the bed after closing the door behind her Kara crawls forwards, towards her wife, easing the tablet from her hands. “What are you doing?”

“Kissing my wife,” Kara says with a smile as she leans in and presses her lips against Cat’s straddling the smaller woman’s lap.

“Kara, what about Carter’s hearing?”

“Ear plugs plus sound blocking headphones,” Kara replies, “when I left him he said something about not wanting to hear the two of us fighting.”

“Will it work though?”

Nodding Kara presses kisses against Cat’s neck, “I believe so. I stood outside his door for fifteen minutes calling his name -”

“I wondered what that was about.”

“But when I opened his door he was still in a deep sleep,” she tunes her hearing towards Carter’s room, “even now he’s still sleeping.” She smiles, “I imagine that the emotional disturbances of the day have exhausted him. I’m surprised you haven’t crashed on me yet.”

Cat grins at her wife, hands resting on Kara’s hips, “I thought we should talk before bed.”

“We probably should,” Kara admits, sliding off of Cat and settling beside her. “Are you okay with these things?”

This time Cat moves into Kara’s lap, “It’s a lot,” Cat tells her wife honestly, “but it’s not so much that I can’t handle it. Kara,” she pauses, “what you said earlier? How does that work?”

“I’ve no idea,” Kara says honestly. “For all I know one of us could end up pregnant after the first time we make love or the hundredth time. I won’t know anything for sure about this until I speak with my mother or Aunt Astra tomorrow.” She tilts her head, “Honestly I should probably talk to Aunt Astra instead of a hologram, plus she’s always honest with me if nothing else.”

Glancing down at Kara’s hands Cat smiles, they’ve slipped under the edge of her own shirt, resting lightly against the her skin, “So we should wait?”

Kara hears the question in the older woman’s voice, “Our son is asleep down the hall, hopefully with enough ear protection that nothing will wake him in the night, and you're still getting used to controlling the extra sensitivity when things touch your skin,” she meets Cat’s eyes, “I have no idea what we should do.” She reaches up, tracing Cat’s cheek with just her fingertips, watching as Cat immediately tilts her head closer to the touch, seeking a firmer feel of skin against skin. “But I don't know if I can keep from touching you either.”

Leaning forward pressing her forehead against Kara’s, “I don't know if I can keep from touching you either.”

“Maybe I should go to my apartment, or at least sleep in the guest room, keep some distance between us for now.”

Cat shakes her head, “Not a chance,” she leans forward then, capturing Kara’s lips in a near bruising kiss and Kara idly wonders if Cat can bruise her skin now with love bites. “I want you,” Cat says against her lips. “That's not this bond between us talking, the raw need is and I'm sure I could fight it but I don't want to. I want you to make love to me and I to you.”

“But what if -”

“Do you not want that? Do you want to wait until you're ready for that possibility? Because we can, we can wait, but I've thought about it ever since we talked this evening and if we are meant to have this, then we are meant to have that as well.” She reaches up now, tracing her fingers across Kara’s face, watching her wife’s eyes flutter closed, she leans in, pressing light kisses against her eyelids. “I would do anything for you, Kara, I always have. All you've ever had to do was ask.”

“This isn't something I want to ask for, Cat, this is something I want us to both want. If you don't want it, if I don't then I want to find a way to keep it from happening, without it meaning that I can't ever touch you.”

Cat smiles, “And if I did want it, would you?”

“Yes,” Kara whispers, leaning back in to Cat’s lips, “because I've thought about it a hundred times before now, a hundred times when we were never together. Our little girl, running through the house on sunny afternoons, she'd have your hair and my eyes and your smile, she'd love like you and fight like me and have your attitude.” She rests her forehead on Cat’s, “So yes I want it, I want it so badly I can't breathe sometimes but I would not ask you to do this if we don't have all the facts.”

Cat leans forward then, pulling her own shirt up and away from Kara’s body, “Tonight,” she trails her fingers ever so lightly upon Kara’s skin, “I don't care about facts, tonight I care about you and I and the love we feel for one another.” She leans up then, kissing the younger woman, “Make love to me, Kara.”

SCSCSCSCSCSCSCSC

The next morning Cat wakes with her back pressed against Kara’s chest, the younger woman clinging to her tightly, nearly possessively, she would never admit to loving it. She can hear Carter in the living room, already playing some video game or other, they'd checked on him regularly the night before, when one had come up for air while the other came down from a high, he'd slept peacefully all night. Cat runs her fingers lazily from Kara’s wrist to her elbow, tracing patterns over the skin.

“Mmmm, good morning, beautiful,” is murmured into her hair and she smiles at the words, she's in love with her wife’s smile and her touch and the way even hours later it feels like her touch still lingers.

Rolling in the embrace holding her, Cat leans up and kisses her with everything that she has. “Good morning, my love.” She snuggles into Kara’s neck, “We should get up, should get dressed.”

Kara smiles, leaning down to kiss Cat, “We should.” They'd showered sometime over in the morning but Cat wishes now that she could drag her wife back into the water, or keep her in bed for the day, “I'd like you to meet Aunt Astra when we get to the DEO today.”

Cat smiles, “I'd like that, she seems important to you.”

“She was-is,” Kara sighs, hand running lazily over Cat’s arm, “she was both my aunt and my best friend on Krypton, I don't know who I would be without my memories of her.”

“Why is she in prison?”

Kara doesn't ask how Cat figured out DEO headquarters was a prison, she's Cat Grant, she can do anything. “She was in a Kryptonian prison that fell to Earth years ago. My mother sentenced her to life in Fort Rozz after she and her then husband sought to warn the people of Krypton that they were destroying their planet. She was correct in her assessments but she went about proving them the wrong way. After I captured her and was unable to stop her torture at General Lane’s hands I was the one who flipped her. I offered her protection and a home and instead DEO’s higher ups threw her into a Kryptonite laced cell, Alex and I are both fighting for her, Hank too oddly enough.”

“And now she'll have Carter and I on her side as well.”

Kara smiles, “Wait until you meet her before you decide.”

“You love her, she's some of the only family you have, and you're a good judge of character to boot, I'm sure we’ll be fine.”

Smiling Kara leans forward and kisses her wife, slowly, lovingly, “You are more than I ever could have hoped for, you know that.”

Tracing Kara’s cheek with her thumb Cat smiles, “So are you, my love.”

“Moms,” Carter calls from the other side of the door.

Kara grins, loving the sound of her son calling them both Mom, “Come on in, Carter,” Cat calls back, smiling when he wanders into the room. “What’s the matter, baby?”

“I’m hungry,” Carter says, “I ate the rest of the cereal and there’s not much else in the kitchen.”

“That was a whole box of cereal,” Cat says.

Looking down at her wife, Kara grins, “You think I eat a lot now,” she says, “I ate three times as much when I was Carter’s age.” Cat covers her face, “And you can’t tell me you aren’t starving too, the Kryptonian metabolism is way higher than the human one.”

Cat groans, “I admit it, I’m starving, okay? But I have this sudden desire for cold pizza and that is clearly not an option right now, considering we devoured all four pizzas we ordered for dinner last night. I think Alex ate almost as much as the three of us.” Carter wanders out then, clearly having no desire to listen to the rest of his Moms’ conversation.

“Yeah, my sister has developed some of my eating habits over time, at least that’s what she told me last week when we had to order five orders of pot stickers.” Cat tilts her head, studying her wife, “What?”

“Nothing,” Cat says, “well let’s get up and go find something to eat. Maybe that diner down the street. Although they may be out of food after the three of us get finished.”

Kara leans forward to press a quick kiss to her wife’s lips, “You first,” she says.

“Why me?”

“Your clothes,” Kara says with a smirk.

Cat glares, “You just want to watch me get dressed.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” the younger woman says in mock shock even as Cat crawls from the warmth of their bed. The older woman steps into her closet, “Maybe something along the athletic variety if you have it,” Kara calls after her, “we don’t want to destroy any of your work clothes.”

“Are we planning on destroying my clothes?”

“Well no,” Kara says when Cat emerges from the closet with two sets of yoga pants and two tank tops, “but you never know. Those are gonna be short on me,” she says, eyeing the pants. “Though we could probably stop by my place on the way out of town and grab some of my clothes.”

Cat pouts, "But I like seeing you in my clothes."

Shaking her head, Kara slips out of bed with a grace she never displays at work, "Mmm," she hums while pulling Cat into her arms, "Maybe I'll wear your shirt and my pants," she says with a grin, "my ankles do not need sunburn."

Laughing Cat wraps her arms around Kara’s waist, tilting her face up to meet Kara is a short kiss, “You do have nice ankles,” she murmurs.

Grinning down at her wife, Kara presses another kiss to Cat’s lips, “This is decidedly not getting dressed.”

“No, no it's not,” Cat says, fingers tangling in the oversized t-shirt that Kara’s wearing. Cat isn’t even sure where she got the shirt from, much less why it falls to mid-thigh on Kara. “But we really should be, I really am starving.”

Kara chuckles, “Me too,” she mutters, “I think our late night is making my appetite even worse than normal.”

“It was totally worth it,” Cat says, kissing Kara once more.

“Mmm,” Kara hums against Cat’s lips, “totally.”

“Moms,” Carter grumbles from the other side of their door, “I’m seriously hungry.”

“Okay, okay,” Kara calls back, “we’re coming, be out in ten.” Cat presses a kiss to the base of her throat, “maybe fifteen.”

“Gross,” both women distinctly hear Carter mutter as he moves back toward his own room, clearing intending to finish getting ready.

SCSCSCSCSCSCSCSC

“You’re late,” Alex says as she steps out of the bunker that houses DEO headquarters. “We said ten, it’s clearly,” she glances at her watch, “way past ten.”

“Yes, Alex,” Kara says with a mock glare, “it’s ten fifteen. You’re being a pain because you want to watch us practice.”

The grin on Alex’s face is clearly hiding something, “Are you talking to Astra first or practicing first?”

Kara tilts her head, glances at Cat and Carter, “Astra,” she says after a moment and wonders why it causes a broad grin to spread across Alex’s face.

“Come on then,” she says, tilting her head towards the bunker behind her. “I’ve got some cool gadgets for Carter to tinker with while you and Cat speak with Astra.”

“Alex -”

“Don’t worry,” Alex says, “it’s nothing but a few pieces of alien tech that we’ve found to be harmless and mostly useless but I think he’ll find a few of them interesting.”

Cat nods first, “As long as you’re sure they’re harmless.”

“I wouldn’t let him mess with them if I believed any differently,” Alex says with a small smile. “You two go ahead to Astra. I’ll stay with Carter and the two of us will see what we can find.”

Tilting her head, Kara finally concedes, “Okay,” she says, “if you need us we’ll be in Astra’s cell.”

“Okay,” Alex says, arm already slung around Carter’s shoulders as she leads him towards one of the labs on the far side of headquarters.

Holding out a hand to Cat, Kara smiles, “Come on, Kit Cat,” she says quietly, “let’s go meet the family.” Cat glares at the nickname but says nothing, only slipping her hand into Kara’s and allowing herself to be led across headquarters towards Astra’s cell. When they reach the door they’re meant to reach, Kara glances at Cat, “You’re sure about this?”

“Positive,” Cat says with a whisper, allowing herself to be led into the cell before them after Kara has leaned down to the retina scanner and allowed them entry to the room beyond.

Inside the room, Cat falters almost instantly, “Shit,” Kara mutters, “I almost forgot.” She moves quickly to the panel on the wall and disables the kryptonite in the walls, “Hank can reprimand me later,” she mutters.

“Reprimand you for what?” Cat asks, already feeling better. “What was that?”

“Kryptonite,” a voice says from behind them, “it will leave you feeling weak and lethargic, depleted of your powers.”

“Aunt Astra,” Kara says with a grin, moving towards the side of the glass cell.

“Hello, Little One,” the woman inside says with a fond smile. She places her hand against the glass wall.

Kara matches her move on the opposite side of the glass, “You shouldn’t be in there,” she mutters, knowing Astra will hear her because her super hearing will have returned already.

Astra’s smile turns sadder, “You and Alex will fix this, I know it.” She tilts her head, glancing over Kara’s shoulder, “I feel as if my imprisonment is not the reason for your visit today, however.”

Reaching back Kara grasps Cat’s hand, fingers wrapping around Cat’s, pulling the older woman forward. “Cat, this is my Aunt Astra.” She smiles at Astra, “Aunt Astra, this is Cat,” she pauses a moment, “my wife.”

Astra’s parted lips instantly snap closed, “Your,” she shakes her head, “your wife?”

Kara can’t fight the grin that spreads across her lips, wouldn’t even if she could, “Yes, my wife.” She wraps her arm around Cat’s waist, “I wasn’t aware of the,” she tilts her head, “the protective clauses surrounding a Kryptonian marriage.”

“Oh,” Astra says, “oh, the two of you?” She grins, she shakes her head, “You never were one for remembering the,” she tilts her head and Cat can clearly see the family resemblance then, “finer portions of Kryptonian law.”

Chuckling Kara shakes her head, “Yes, well,” she shrugs, “at least,” she glances at Cat, “at least it is a true Kryptonian marriage bond.”

Turning her gaze to the woman at her niece’s side Astra smiles, “It is nice to meet you. I would shake your hand if I could,” she says with a grin, “but Alexandra’s bosses seem to be very pigheaded.”

Cat glances at Kara, “Was there really ever a doubt in your mind I was going to like her?”

Kara chuckles once more, “No, not really.” She shakes her head, “What we’re actually here for, Aunt Astra, is that we have some questions about what this type of bond could entail.” She glances to Cat who gives an imperceptible nod, “A true marriage bond,” Kara says carefully, “I remember that most of them,” she pulls in a breath, “most of them produced a child within the first year of marriage.”

Astra grins at her niece, “They did.” She rubs her eyes, “A marriage bond was different from a simple marriage on Krypton. A marriage bond was the equivalent of,” she tilts her head, “I believe the word I’m searching for is soulmate, here on Earth. A bond can never be broken but it also strengthens the two people involved in it, meaning that their children will be more powerful than they are. The Kryptonian genes have allowed that once those two people have become one then they will welcome a child soon after.”

“So will it happen immediately after?” Cat questions when Kara seems to be too lost in her own thoughts.

“For some,” Astra says, slight smile on her lips, “for others it could take several months,” she shrugs, “but there will always be a barely controlled desire in that first year of being bonded no matter if two have become one or not.”

“One actual teenager in the house and the two of us behaving like teenagers,” Cat says with a groan, “just perfect.”

Astra laughs, “You will be fine, once you have become one for the first time the desire is much easier to control.”

Kara grins, “Well that explains some things,” Cat smacks her in the stomach and Kara rubs her stomach having actually felt the blow. She’d also found this morning while changing that Cat could indeed leave bruises across her skin when they made love. The series of love bites littering her chest and stomach that morning had brought a smile to her lips.

“A teenager?” Astra questions having returned to Cat’s last statement.

“Our son,” Cat says with a grin, “well my son from a previous marriage but the bond was extended to him by Kara’s declaration of protection.” She grins, “He actually questioned last night as to whether a bond between he and any future -” she falters, unable to think of her son falling in love just yet.

“If he were to find someone that he truly bonded with then yes, they too would fall to the Kryptonize process.”

“As if that boy didn’t have enough to worry about with his parents being the Queen of All Media and Supergirl,” Kara says with a grin.

Cat shakes her head but it’s Astra that speaks, “So what else are the two of you here for today?”

Kara smiles, “Flying and target practice,” she says, “the three of us spent last night tussling across the ceiling and neither of them have tried the heat vision or freeze breath yet.”

“Oh, sounds like fun,” Astra says with a grin, “I’d love to be out there with you.”

A sad smile slips across Kara’s features, “I wish you could be.”

Astra smiles, “One day soon, Little One. Am I to assume that your sister will be observing?”

Laughing Kara nods, “You know she could never resist the ability to observe something she’s never seen before.”

Cat leans her head against Kara’s shoulder and Astra smiles, “The two of you look good together,” she says instead of continuing the line of chatter she had been going down.

Smiling Cat turns her head and presses a kiss to Kara’s shoulder, “Thank you,” she says with a smile.

Tilting her head Astra watches the two women before her for a moment, “I believe there’s a boy waiting for the two of you to take him flying.”

Kara smiles, “There is. We’ll come back before we leave,” she says with a grin, “you should meet Carter too.”

“I’ll hold you to that, Little One,” Astra says with a wide smile, “be careful up there in the clouds today. And don’t get in the way of any laser beams.”

“I won’t,” Kara says with a laugh. “Behave,” she tells her aunt, “and maybe we can bust you out of here sooner rather than later.” Astra shakes her head and watches silently as Kara and Cat head out of her holding cell, Kara failing, most likely purposefully, to reactivate the kryptonite in the walls. Kara and Cat are halfway to the control room when Cat pulls back slightly on Kara’s arm, “What’s the matter, baby?”

Cat smiles, she will claim every time that she hates the terms of endearment but she really doesn’t, “How can we get your aunt out of here?”

Kara shakes her head, “Alex and I have tried everything we can think of, Hank too, right now we’re just waiting for the last decision to be handed down. If they decide to keep her imprisoned this time, she’ll likely never be released.”

Reaching up Cat strokes Kara’s cheek, “We’re not going to give up,” she says, “I promise. We’ll find a way.”

“How can you be so sure?” Kara questions and Cat sees then that her wife has nearly lost hope over her aunt being free from DEO prison.

“I have faith that we can find a way,” Cat says with a smile, “you taught me to believe in things that are hard to believe.”

Kara shakes her head, takes Cat’s hand and tugs lightly, pulling the smaller woman into her arms, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Cat says with a smile. “Now come on, let’s go fly.”

“You won’t fly with me but you’ll fly on your own and not worry about a thing.”

Cat shakes her head, “Oh I’m worried but I trust you to catch me if I start to fall out of the sky.”

“Moms!” Carter calls from where he and Alex are still hold up in one of the rooms off the console room, bent over something they’re both studying, “Come look at this,” he calls, “you aren’t gonna believe what Aunt Alex and I figured out about this.”

Both women stop in the doorway between the console room and the room Alex and Carter are in, watching the two people inside with a smile, “What have the two of you found?”

Smiling excitedly Carter holds up a small silver thing, “They thought it was trash,” he says excitedly, “and it got tossed on the rubbage heap but watch this.” Cat and Kara watch as he runs his fingers over the shiny silver metal, surprised when an eerie melody slips from the small openings in it. “It’s an instrument,” he says in wonder. Slowly he continues to run his fingers carefully over the metal, listening intently to the sounds that slip from the instrument, “Isn’t it beautiful.”

Kara watches as her sister leans against the table they’re working at, her hip propped against it as she watches Carter and Kara is sure she’s never seen a prouder look on her sister’s face. “He came up with a few possibilities for what the other things are we’ve got here as well.”

Carter places the instrument down and lifts a new one up, it looks almost exactly like a seashell, “Alien snail shell,” he says, flipping it over, “if you look inside it has some of the same characteristics of an Earth snail, but this one, this one seems to be robotic or metal,” he shrugs, “something, I can’t quite figure it out.”

Stepping forward Cat presses a kiss to her son’s forehead, “Maybe we can see if Aunt Alex has got a intern spot here for you where you can explore all the alien gadgets you want.”

Grinning Carter looks over at Alex, “Can I?”

“I’ll have to talk to Hank, make sure it’s okay, and you’ll only be allowed into certain areas for your own safety but we may be able to work something out.”

“Awesome!” Carter cheers happily while wrapping Alex in a tight hug, trying to be careful not to hug her too tightly in excitement.

Kara smiles at her son and sister, “Think you can pull yourself away from the fun for some flying?” she questions, watching Carter’s eyes light up.

“Yeah,” he says happily, nearly flying out of his chair at just the mention of the activity itself.

Alex shakes her head, “Come on, you three, Hank wants us to use one of the back fields today since there’s going to be so much flying and fire power going on.”

Nodding Kara takes Cat’s hand in her own and walks towards the main entrance of the bunker with Alex and Carter following behind them. She hears Alex stop by Vasquez but thinks nothing of it and continues on towards the door. “So who gets to fly first?” Carter questions, excitedly as he bounces on the balls of his feet.

“I was thinking,” Kara says, “I’d let you and your mom decide who gets to go up first, while I go up and look around, see whether there’s any rogue geese flocks around, they’re horrible to run into while in the air. They like to bite.”

Alex laughs as she walks up behind them, “I remember you telling me about that one,” she says. “I’ll never forget trying to clean the goose poo out of your supersuit.” She hops into the driver side of the car, “Carter, you wanna ride up here with me?”

Carter glances to his mothers, “Go,” Cat says with a grin, watching him climb into the passenger seat of the SUV. “Your sister is going to spoil him rotten, isn’t she?”

“From the looks of things,” Kara begins, “yes.” She pulls Cat towards the SUV and the two of them slide into the backseat, “So who’s going to go flying first?”

Leaning over to Kara’s ear Cat whispers, “Was thinking you could take our boy up first, let him get the hang of things.”

“Sounds good to me,” Kara says with a laugh.

“What are you two whispering about back there?” Alex questions, watching her sister and sister-in-law in the rearview mirror.

“Nothing,” Kara says with a grin while leaning over and pressing a kiss behind Cat’s ear. She places a second kiss on the outer shell of her ear and laughs, “We’re simply plotting.”

“Plotting what?” Carter questions, turning to look at his mothers uneasily.

“You’ll know soon enough,” Kara promises, arm winding more fully around Cat as the smaller woman leans over to rest her head on Kara’s shoulder.

When they pull into the last field on the DEO lands Kara chuckles, “Hank coming out later?”

Alex shakes her head, “He’s got some things to take care of today, said he probably wouldn’t be able to make it.”

Kara nods, “More fun for me then.” Shaking her head Alex watches her sister nearly crash out of the back of the car while pulling Cat along behind her, “You and Carter hash out who gets first flight and I’ll be back in a moment.” Cat nods, accepts the kiss pressed lightly to her lips and smiles when Kara pushes herself off from the ground, soaring high into the air.

“Watch,” Alex murmurs quietly to her sister-in-law, their eyes trained on the blur in the clouds until suddenly the blur their eyes have been focused on collides with a second, or more specifically the second blur collides with Kara.

“Alex,” Cat says, panic slipping into her voice.

“Calm down, Cat,” Alex says, patting the older woman’s hand, “it’ll be fine, this is all part of my plan.”

“Your -” suddenly Cat realizes that Kara isn’t fighting with the person who’d plowed into her but is tussling through the air with them much as she had Carter the night before across the ceiling of the penthouse. “Who is that?” Cat questions quietly, eyes tracking the two figures moving across the sky. It’s then that Cat sees the long dark hair fluttering out behind the second person in the sky, “Astra?”

Alex nods, “We were going to surprise Kara for her birthday with Astra’s release but when all this happened I decided to move things forward a bit. Astra loved the idea of surprising her this way, apparently tussling used to be one of their favorite past times, I swear it's Astra’s military influence.”

Suddenly Astra sweeps down right in front of Cat, holding out her hands, “Come on, let’s show those two,” she points to where Kara is flying circles through the air with Carter, “how this is done.” Cat doesn’t fail to notice the wink that Astra throws at Alex as she lets herself be pulled into the air, flight coming as easily to her as breathing. She twirls through the air when Astra lets go of her hands, letting herself feel free and swept up in the sensation of the wind blowing through her hair.

Suddenly a body collides with hers and she turns over in the air, flying while lying on her back as she looks up at Kara floating above her, “This is amazing,” she tells her wife, bouncing up into the air so that she can spin them around in a dance only they can hear the music to. “How high can we go?”

Kara grins, hands linked with Cat’s, “How high do you want to go?” Cat smiles and rises higher into the air, disappearing into the clouds, smiling at the damp feel against her skin as she passes through them. Above the clouds Cat pulls Kara towards her and into a far from chaste kiss. When they come up for air Cat zooms away from Kara, looking back over her shoulder to see if the younger woman is following. Kara tilts her head, “Oh so that's the game you wanna play.” With that the two of them are chasing each other through the skies, dipping here or zooming there, bouncing around through the clouds.

Finally Kara catches up to Cat, though she's not sure if it was her doing or if Cat slowed enough for her to wrap her arms around the older woman and pull her into her chest. “This is amazing,” Cat murmurs, hands covering Kara’s around her waist. “It's so beautiful up here, so peaceful. How do you ever return to the ground?”

Smiling Kara squeezes Cat in her arms, “Because you're always there, waiting when I need to come down, when I need to feel human instead of super.”

Cat glances over her shoulder, “And now that I'm no longer human?”

Tilting her head Kara smiles, “You are still the one who grounds me.” Cat pulls from Kara’s arms then, turning so that she's looking at Kara and then catapulting herself into the younger woman, sending them both cartwheeling through the air.

“Moms!” Carter calls into the clouds, Cat and Kara’s hearing tuned to pick him up no matter where he is or how loud he calls them.

The two of them both fall into a nosedive towards the ground, pulling up into a stop before Carter who has both feet planted firmly on the ground. “What's up, bud?”

“Any idea where Aunt Alex and Aunt Astra are? Aunt Astra and I were doing flips through the air and she just stopped mid-flight and started into a nosedive.”

Kara tilts her head, it's a strange move even for her aunt, she glances towards the SUV but there's no Alex leaning against the hood. There's not even the usual scope she uses to watch Kara when she zooms through the clouds. Quickly Kara adjusts her hearing, attempting to distinguish Astra and Alex’s voice, “Let her go, Nathan,” she can hear Astra growl and she knows instantly who it is her aunt is going up against, who has her sister.

Turning to Cat and Carter, Kara says urgently, “I need the two of you to fly back to HQ, find Hank, tell him Alex is in trouble and that Astra and I have gone to help. But we’re probably going to need back up.” Both Grants nod and she leans forward pressing a kiss to Cat’s lips and then to Carter’s forehead, “Be careful,” she whispers, “I love you both.”

She hears their responding “I love you”s on the wind as she's already flying quickly towards where she can hear her sister’s uneven breaths, rapidly beating heart and Astra’s voice pleading with the last remaining member of her regime, her stepson.

Kara can remember Nathan from when she was a child on Krypton, he'd been full of so much hate and anger because Non had married Astra and not his mother. Non had loved Nathan’s mother, Cor, Kara believed her name had been but the arranged marriage between his family and Astra In-Ze could not be broken, their families had arranged the marriage when they were two. Nathan had never forgiven Astra for taking his father from him and he had never forgiven Non for his mother’s death. Kara flew faster.

“What if I was to cut your child from her belly?” Nathan questions, voice full of malice. “What would you do, Astra?” He demands, “How would it feel to lose your whole world? Because I assure you if I did cut the child from her, and I do plan to, she will die not long after, from blood loss or grief, I don't care.”

“Astra,” Alex’s voice finally cuts through, “look at me. I'm going to be okay,” she tells the older woman firmly. Kara stops above the scene below her, Alex’s feet are dangling free, Nathan’s arm wrapped around her throat as the only thing keeping her from plummeting towards the ground. “The baby and I will be fine, Astra, focus.”

“Shut up,” Nathan growls against Alex’s ear, knife pressed to her throat. “There's no one to come to your rescue out here and she's not going to risk you or the child.”

Kara files the knowledge of this child away for later, for now she has to save her sister. She sees her chance when Nathan pulls the Kryptonite knife from Alex’s throat, using it to gesture through the air. Not thinking twice Kara rushes towards Nathan, punching him in the nose, causing him to release his hold on Alex who Kara expects to free fall but instead she zips away from the man holding her. “You went after my sister,” she growls out, the front of his Kryptonite resistant suit bunched in her hands, “now you're going to pay.”

She feels Astra behind her then, “Allow me?” she says, replacing her hand with Kara’s, “I owe this little scum bag a lot.”

“DEO teams will be here shortly.”

“They can have what's left,” Astra says simply.

Not responding Kara zips through the sky towards Alex, pulling her big sister securely into her embrace. She pulls back a bit, looking Alex over carefully, going so far as to use her X-Ray vision to examine the child supposedly growing in her sister’s belly and she smiles upon seeing the tiny baby. Even if the situation seems a bit strange that baby will be her niece or nephew, a goofy grins paints her features before a new thought occurs to her. “You lied to me,” she says carefully, “when I asked about Kryptonian marriage bonds, you lied.”

Alex shakes her head, “Astra and I didn't want to tell you until she was released.”

“She was released four days ago, but you kept that from me too.”

“We wanted to surprise you for your birthday, Kara. I knew it was the only thing you truly wanted, so did Astra. We were going to tell you about our bond the day after, I swear.”

Kara sighs, takes a deep breath back in, “Okay,” she finally breathes out, “okay. We should go make sure Astra hasn't killed him.”

“Do you really care if she has?”

Kara glances at her, thinks about the tiny little life she’d seen growing in her sister’s belly and the things Nathan had threatened to do to the two of them. “Only because it could lead to her being thrown back in that Kryptonite cell. My niece or nephew is not growing up without both of their mothers.” Alex grins and take off towards the ground, finding Cat holding Astra back in a full body hug, arms pinned at her sides, and Hank trying to wake up the Kryptonian on the ground. “Uh oh, we may be too late.”

Landing quietly Kara reaches out to steady Alex when the other woman stumbles a bit, “I really hate landings,” she mutters. She glances to Hank, “He's still alive, right?”

Hank glances over his shoulder at her, spotting a thin line of blood running down her throat from a wound that's already healed, “Barely but Agent Astra’s actions were justified in protecting another DEO agent,” he glances at Astra, “you need to come up with a last name for yourself while you live on this planet, especially for your paperwork.”

Alex glances back and forth between Astra and Hank, “What's he talking about?” she finally addresses to Astra.

“Director Henshaw has offered me a position with the DEO. I told him I'd speak with you about it and let him know.”

Alex gives Astra a calculating look, “We’ll talk about this tonight,” she finally says. Astra nods, accepting that her wife may very well not want to work with her. Once Nathan has been thrown into the SUV that Hank and the other agents brought out and the other agents have carted him away Hank turns to the five people watching him. Cat finally releases Astra and the dark haired woman makes her way over to her wife, wrapping the slightly shorter brunette in her arms.

Kara steps over to her own wife and their son, pulling them both into her arms. “What happened up there?” Cat whispers into Kara’s neck. Looking over to her sister and aunt, Kara pulls Cat tighter against her, Carter too, welcoming the ability to hug them as tightly as she can.

“He made a near fatal mistake,” Kara murmurs into Cat’s curls, her hand curling into Cat’s hair while Carter pulls away and moves over to Hank, talking to him about the possibility of an internship.

“Who was he, Kara?”

“Non’s son with the woman he truly loved,” Kara says quietly, pressing a kiss to her wife’s temple. “Aunt Astra and Non’s marriage was arranged by my grandparents when they were two. Astra never loved him and he fell in love with a woman named Cor and had Nathan with her before he and Astra were forced to marry.”

“What did you do to him? And how was Alex able to fly?”

The younger woman’s eyes have not left her sister still wrapped in her aunt’s arms, their foreheads resting against one another, whispering to one another the way Kara and Cat are. “I broke his nose,” Kara says, “I’m not sure what Astra did. When I last saw them, Astra had him by the front of his suit, flying away as fast as she could.” She rests her chin on the top of Cat’s head, “Alex is Astra’s bond,” she says quietly. “What happened up there, that,” she shakes her head, “I’ll tell you tonight,” she promises, “I can’t say it right now.”

Cat nods, noting that her wife is clearly shaken by whatever happened in the sky. Slowly Kara releases her wife and walks over to Alex and Astra, she places a hand on Astra’s shoulder and the older Kryptonian turns to her niece, allowing herself to be drawn into a hug, “We’re okay, Kara,” she whispers.

Kara shakes her head, “The things that he threatened to do,” she mutters, “I don’t know what I would have done if he’d said those things about Cat. I don’t know how you stopped yourself.”

“I didn’t,” Astra says, “your wife held me back, she is very strong for such a very tiny person.”

Finally Kara pulls away from Astra and turns to her sister, “If you ever,” she says, “scare me that way again, I will not be held responsible for my actions.” Finally she reaches out and pulls her sister into the fiercest hug Cat is sure she’s ever seen between the two and she understands that it’s because it’s the first time Kara has ever been able to hug her sister without the fear of breaking her. “You may be her wife but you’re still my sister.”

Alex only nods in response and Kara hugs her for a brief moment, not holding on as she had earlier. “You know I’m okay, right?” Alex questions.

Nodding Kara sighs, “I know but even though you’re indestructable now, I’m still going to worry, just as I am Cat and Carter, just as I do this pain in the ass,” she says, jabbing a thumb at Astra.

“Hey!”

“No,” Kara says, pointing at her aunt. “You married my sister and knocked her up without telling me, you shut up.”

Astra looks properly chastised for a moment but then Alex and Cat both start laughing, “These two are very much alike,” Cat says, her shoulder pressed against Alex’s.

“They are,” she glances over to Hank and Carter lost in conversation about something. “I thought somebody said something about target practice?”

Kara glares at Alex but moves over to the targets Hank had some of the agents bring out earlier in the day. She pulls Carter along with her, leaving Cat behind with her aunt and sister. “She’s not really mad, right?” Astra questions. “I’m still having problems reading her moods most days.”

“She’s hurt,” Alex says quietly, “she feels like we left her out of something important and she’s always hated that. Last time I did it she didn’t talk to me for two days, that was when she found out I was DEO. The fact that she’s still talking to us at all means that she’s either already coming around or not as hurt as she could have been.” She tilts her head, “Also the name calling means she’s slightly miffed but willing to let it drop.” She shrugs, “She said the reason she wanted to make sure you didn’t kill him was because her niece or nephew was not growing up without both of their mothers, means you aren’t too far in the doghouse.”

Cat has been silently watching the two woman beside her, listening to Alex list off Kara’s emotional state. “She’ll come around,” she says quietly. “She’s worried, about all of us.” She glances to her wife, watching the younger woman demonstrate shooting lasers from her eyes to their son, “Carter and I talking about having super suits, fighting alongside her was bad enough,” she look at Alex, “you’re already DEO she knows there’s no way she’s going to be able to keep you away from fighting aliens beside her. She also knows that Astra is going to end up fighting beside her too because Astra is still her aunt and still as protective as she was during her years on Krypton. She’s trying to deal with those things.”

“How have you gotten so far in her head?” Astra questions.

A grin spreads across Cat’s face, “I’ve been Kara’s boss for three years now, I know almost as much about her as she does me. I simply would never have allowed her to know that before now.” She looks at Alex, “Do you know the first time she ever mentioned you to me I knew that you were her hero? She may have had the super powers but you were the one she looked up to, the one she wanted to be just like.” She walks away, not looking back to see the effect her words have had on the woman behind her.

“Hey,” Kara says, wrapping her arm around Cat as the older woman walks up. She presses a kiss against Cat’s temple, “How long should I make them suffer?”

Cat grins, “You have learned far too much about making people suffer while you’ve worked for me.” She shakes her head, “How’s Carter doing on target practice?”

Just as she poses the question one of the targets in front of them explodes, “Pretty good,” Kara says with a grin.

“So how does this work?”

“Focus on what you want to hit and then concentrate on it, let anger seep into the highest level you can imagine and then push that anger out through your eyes, you have to visualize it like you do the sounds.” Nodding Cat turns to face one of the targets before her, focusing on it with all that she can, she lets thoughts of the one thing that can always make her anger crawl into her mind, her mother. Before she can blink it feels like her eyes are burning for a few moments and then she’s watching pieces of the target fall from the sky. “Well,” Kara says quietly, “seems you found your perfect trigger.”

Cat turns into Kara, resting her head against the younger woman’s shoulder, “She’s always been the perfect trigger for my anger.”

Kara’s arm wraps around Cat’s shoulders, “Yeah, the first time my laser vision hit its full potential was because of my mother.” She runs her fingers lightly along Cat’s shoulders, watching as Carter focuses on exploding pieces of the targets that have been exploded by the two Grants. “Do you want to practice some more?”

“No,” Cat says, shaking her head, “I can control this the same way I control my hatred for my mother, I do that quite a bit every day without killing anyone.” Kara shakes her head and wraps her arms around Cat, tucking her wife into her side so that they can watch Carter, “He really is pretty good at that,” she says as another target explodes.

“It has a lot to do with him being younger. When my laser vision showed itself I was about his age, I was being bullied at school for being too nerdy and one day I just got so mad I nearly fried the head junior varsity cheerleader. Kal-El helped me learn how to hone it, it was one of the few powers he helped me to control. Most everything else I taught myself, more often than not with Alex, Eliza and for that first year Jeremiah’s help. Freeze breath didn’t happen until after that incident when Supergirl first appeared on the scene.”

“Should we practice freeze breath today?”

Kara shakes her head, “No, that one doesn’t rear its ugly head too much unless you’re trying to use it.”

Smiling Cat leans into Kara’s side more fully, turning her head slightly when she feels a new presence beside them, finding Alex and Astra there, “Kara,” Astra says carefully.

“We’re good, Aunt Astra,” Kara says before her aunt can continue, “we really and truly are. I want the two of you to be happy, if that’s with each other, who am I to fight that.” She glances at her aunt, “If either of you hurt the other one there will be words,” she promises. She watches the way Astra tucks Alex into her side in the same manner that Cat is tucked into Kara’s, “But I don’t think I’ll need to worry about that.”

“We do have to worry about Maxwell Lord,” Hank says as he approaches the small group. “That’s the situation I’ve been dealing with all morning. Lord has learned of the DEO’s existence, he’s threatening to go public if we don’t give him access to confidential information.”

“What kinds of confidential information?” Kara questions carefully.

“Your file,” Hank says, “in it’s entirety. And Alex’s.”

Kara meets her sister’s eyes, “He knows,” the two say together.

“He knows what?” Cat asks as she glances over to ensure that Carter is still blowing up targets.

“He knows that there’s more of a connection between Alex and I than just Supergirl and FBI agent. Or I suppose now he knows, DEO agent. If he’s put two and two together and come up with four, ie sisters, or if he’s put two and two together and come up with twenty, ie anything else, then we have our work cut out for us.” She sighs, “Can't we just arrest him?”

“If only it were that easy.” Hank sighs, “I'm trying to come up with a cover file, for both of you, mask the connection.”

“He could destroy us,” Alex says, “all of us. This isn't just Kara and I, Hank.” Her hand falls to her stomach, “Astra, Cat, Carter, you, if he reads our files then all of you are in danger. My mom too. CatCo, everything.” She tilts her head, “He's a threat, wasn't the DEO built to remove threats.”

Hank shakes his head, “I'll see what I can do,” he says simply, “but I make no promises.” He moves forward then, pressing a kiss to Kara’s forehead and then Alex’s, “Both of you know I'm going to do everything I can to protect you and your family. I haven't said it much because of the DEO but it's past time I start,” he gives them that tiny grin that lets them know he cares, “I do view you both as my daughters and nothing and no one can stop that.”

Before Kara or Alex can respond he shoots up into the sky, knowing they could either or both catch him but that they'll understand he needs time to process what he's just admitted. Alex glances at Kara, “Remind me to get him something decidedly dad-like when the whole Lord fiasco blows over.”

Kara grins, “Tie that he’ll hate, a mug with #1 Dad and a new to replace the one we broke with that experiment last week.”

“Sounds good to me,” Alex says giving her sister a grin of her own.

A mischievous look crosses Kara’s face, “Race ya?” she says to Alex, “First one to run to my apartment and fly back wins?”

“No,” Cat says, “the two of you can't be seen racing through the city.”

Kara shrugs, “We won't, Cat we can all run fast enough that the human eye can't detect even a glimmer of us. As for the flying that's what the clouds are for.”

“You're sure?” Cat questions, weary.

“Positive.”

Alex touches the comm in her ear and Kara’s comes to life too, “No races,” Hank says firmly, “not until this Lord thing is handled.”

“He really is a dad, I didn't even finish planning that challenge until a minute ago.”

“I heard that, Kara.”

The blonde chuckles, “I promise no races,” she says, “can we at least test our strength against one another?”

“No,” he says, “Alex is pregnant, no.”

“You do know I'm Kryptonian now, not to mention listening to this conversation. I'm not going to break.”

“And we don't know how vulnerable you'll be while you’re pregnant, until we do you are desk bound and banned from training with your sister.”

“But, Hank,” Alex whines.

“There will be no whining, Alex, now have fun but please be careful.”

Alex pouts, “I'm at least flying to Cat’s for dinner tonight,” she gripes.

Kara glances at Cat, who nods, “You should come,” she says, “we’re having Chinese,” she knows he has a weakness for it.

He chuckles, “Order lots of pot strikers.”

“At least ten orders,” Kara says with a chuckle.

“I'll see you both tonight. Be careful,” he says in parting.

SCSCSCSCSCSCSCSC

That night after Chinese and board games and watching Carter beat Astra, Alex and Hank at video games before passing out in the armchair Kara climbs into bed with her wife. She lays down and Cat turns over, “Are you scared?” she asks, resting her head on Kara’s chest and a hand on her stomach.

“Terrified,” Kara says honestly because she feels Cat deserves that. “He could destroy all of us, everything, everyone that we love. I could lose you and Carter, we could lose CatCo, our friends, everything. I'm going to do everything to keep that from happening, so will Hank and Alex but,” she shakes her head, “how much can we really do against a man that's nearly untouchable.”

“You have to trust Hank, baby,” Cat says quietly, the pet name slipping out without her even realizing, “he’ll find something, he always does.”

“I'm just afraid of how he may have to do it.”

“You don't think?”

“If it meant protecting us, he'd do anything, Cat,” she runs her fingers through Cat’s hair, “it's a problem for another day though.”

She presses Cat closer to her side, “We’ll come up with something,” Cat promises, her mind whirling, “I promise.”

SCSCSCSCSCSCSCSC

Across town a living plant launches itself at Maxwell Lord, wrapping green vines around his torso so tightly that ribs crack. As he falls to the floor a black clad man steps into the room, “You helped them save Zor-El, now who will save you?” he questions before turning and leaving Maxwell Lord’s panic room, a demolished door in his wake and his Kryptonian coat of arms burned into the crumpled metal.


End file.
